Benefits of Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water treatment process in which water is forced under pressure though a semi permeable membrane, which drastically reduces the contaminants in the water and renders it far more “pure” than soft, non-RO water.

Because of its high purity, RO water can be very beneficial to use as a make-up water source for steam boilers under the right circumstances.

Benefits of RO-fed steam boilers include:

• Reduced boiler blowdown, resulting in drastically increased boiler cycles of concentration
• An average of 50% decrease in chemical cost
• Reduced boiler deposits resulting in increased boiler efficiency and prolonged boiler function
  • Possible reuse for RO permeate reject.

The water that crosses the RO membrane is called permeate or product water. 95% to 99% of the dissolved salts are typically removed from the permeate. The concentrated contaminants that did not pass through the RO membrane is called the reject (or concentrate) stream.

Costs Associated with Reverse Osmosis 

Depending on the size of the RO system needed, it may pay for itself in a short time – for those plants operating with 10 cycles or less , payback may be as little as just one year.

Ongoing costs for RO upkeep will include the electrical costs to run the RO pump; cost for reject water, membrane cleaning and/or replacement. There may be also be costs for anti-scalant and biocide to treat the RO water.

Is RO Right for You?

How do you know if an RO upgrade pretreatment system is right for you?

There are many factors to consider when making the decision to install an RO. Evaluate and consider the quality of your current make-up water; your local water and sewer costs , the price of electricity; and the present and expected boiler cycles of concentration.

Talk to Us at Chemtex

Please enlist the assistance of your Chemtex water treatment professional to work with you to help analyze these factors to help determine if an RO water system would be a good application in your facility.